XML/EDI

XML/EDI

One of the first steps in attempting to get closer to an XML-based means for e-business interchange is the XML/EDI effort. This effort, in effect, is a combination of the best practices and technologies learned from EDI with the benefits that XML provides.

A lot of time and effort was put into making traditional EDI a success. Consequently, a lot of best practices and business process know-how was inserted into EDI specifications, software, and implementations. The desire to uproot these systems and replace them with completely redesigned ones makes some implementers hesitate, at best. However, the set-backs and challenges of EDI implementation have also thrown a wrench into many EDI rollouts. Therefore, a halfway solution must be found that can improve EDI with new technology while not throwing it completely out.

It is in this spirit that XML/EDI was created. The vision for XML/EDI is to allow orga-nizations to deploy a system that allows each trading partner to exchange e-business information using XML and Internet technologies, leveraging not just the old structures of EDI data but also process control templates and business rules as well. XML/EDI consists of five major components:

   XML base specification

   EDI transaction sets

   Templates for process logic

   A global repository and reference dictionary

   Agents and implementation methods

These five components are combined to provide an e-business system that delivers e-business data as well as processes logic. By doing so, XML/EDI hopes to address the following list of requirements and solutions to the typical “ailments” of EDI:

   Reduce the cost of doing business

   Reduce the cost of entry into e-business

   Provide low-cost, easily implemented tools

   Improve data integration and accessibility

   Maintain appropriate security and control

   Utilize technology that can be extended and maintained with little adverse business impact

   Integrate with today’s systems

   Utilize open standards

   Provide a successor to X12/EDIFACT and interoperability for XML syntaxes

   Be globally deployable and maintainable

It doesn’t take much effort to simply encode EDI transaction sets into XML. Therefore, the real work and benefit is in encapsulating the various business processes, logic, and value-add that EDI provides beyond simple document encodings. XML/EDI has added the concepts of using process templates, the XML/EDI repository, and software agents as means to providing these benefits. Figure 20.3 illustrates the interaction of the five major components of XML/EDI. As you can see, XML and EDI are separate technologies, whereas the others are contained within the auspices of XML/EDI.

Process templates are built using XML and express work requirements throughout the system. They describe and control business context and process definitions that enable trading partners and users of the system to locate the correct components they need. As has been defined earlier, the XML/EDI repository provides a mechanism for users to define and look up meanings for the definitions of various e-business entities. As a result, described interfaces can be automatically searched and identified. The repository system provides a semantic foundation for e-business transactions while simultaneously enabling software agents to identify and reference business document entries.

In this regard, software agents serve several key functions and requirements. They are applied to process templates and interpret the results in order to determine work to be performed, and they interact with entries and definitions in the repository to apply and integrate the appropriate data per each business task. They accomplish this by searching the business repository and attaching the right template for processing.